Busby Berkeley understood fantasy and knew exactly what the public wanted from a movie. As the US entered into the Great Depression and Europe stood on the brink of another World War, Busby was busy creating his catalogue of girls and glamour, churning out films that suspended reality for the price of a theatre ticket. With costumes, glitz, and snappy musical numbers, his films had housewives and shop girls everywhere dreaming of the endless possibilities.
This tradition of extravagance has continued through the decades of Hollywood period films. From Ziegfeld Follies, a musical comedy produced in 1946, to contemporary bodice-rippers such as The Duchess and quasi-historical projects as Marie-Antoinette, an enormous body of work has lent itself to relieving the common angst of the moment. In 1939, Gone with the Wind provided romantic fantasies to audiences the world over with the help of its ravishing stars, Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, and glorious wardrobe and sets. Brides that year looked to Scarlett O’Hara for couture inspiration, much like current brides reference Bram Stoker’s Dracula or Moulin Rouge! as a starting point in the search for their perfect gowns.
What film protagonists wear on their heads and on their backs defines and directs style in the fashion industry today as much as it did in the 1940’s. The use of costume in the suspension of reality is vital to overall perception. Take the bon-bon colour palette of Marie Antoinette and apply it to your soul. Let the vibrancy of Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! thrill your heart and quicken your pulse. Think of the all-encompassing world of Star Wars, with Queen Amidala’s extravagant headpieces that lift us onto a spatial plane. And thanks in part to the charm of Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones, the fedora has been enjoying a phenomenal resurgence on the streets like never before.
Costume and period films provide a warm blanket in these troubled times, much like a soothing cup of hot chocolate. So allow a dash of fantasy to bleed into the hum-drum of your lives and revel in the comfort of the temporary.
Image courtesy of Posterwire.com
